Foot-protector for horses



G. W. GREOB. Foot-Protector for Horses.

No. 226,848. Patented April 27,1880.

- fifeni or I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES W. GREOE, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

FOOT-PROTECTOR FOR HORSES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters. Patent No. 226,848, dated April 27, 1880.

Application filed February 9, 1880.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES W. GREcE, of Detroit, in the county of Wayne and State of Michigan, have invented an Improvement in Foot-Protectors for Horses, of which the following is a specification.

The nature of my invention relates to a new and useful improvement in the construction of protectors for the feet of horses, by means of which all the parts of the foot which are designed by nature to be brought into use in walking or trotting are compelled to coact as they would if the animal were not shod.

Horseshoein gas ordinarilypracticed, whether the shoe is or is not provided with calks, lifts the foot above the ground by so much as the thickness of the shoe, thereby preventing the frog of the foot from coming in contact, as nature designed, with the ground. This prevalent style of shoeing compels the weight of the animal to rest upon the heel and toe of the foot at the outer edge thereof, thereby presenting a hard and unyielding surface, which causes a jar, which in turn causes most of the diseases usually found in the foot and leg.

In walking or moving, the horse, as well as m'an,is designed by nature first to stepupon the heel, and the foot of the horse is provided with an elastic projection called the frog between the two points of the heel to receive the first impact of the step and prevent jarring and consequent injury, and it frequently ocours that this frog by bad shoeing becomes diseased and rots away, when the shell of the hoof is liable to crack and become contracted at the heel. The object of my invention is, so far as possible, to obviate all these difficulties by the employment of the devices hereinafter described.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a perspective of the bottom of the foot of a.

horse with a sound frog and provided with a protector, and with the shoe partially removed to show the manner of fastening. Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section from front to rear in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a rear elevation of the rear of the foot of ahorse with a diseased frog provided with my protector adapted to such diseased condition'of the frog.

In the drawings which form a part of this specification, A represents a piece of leather, which is cut to fit the outline of the foot, and is secured thereto by the nails which secure the shoe B in place. Secured to this piece of leather by any suitable means, although a cement is preferable for the purpose, is a piece of rubber, O, or some analogous elastic material thicker than the shoe, and in such aposition that when in place it will rest against the bottom of the frog (with the leather intervening) and between the two parts of the heel of the shoe. This when properly fastened will compel the rubber to receive the first concussion as the animal moves, and enables the frog above to bear sufficient of the weight of the horse to compel it to perform its natural function of a spreader to prevent contracted heels.

If the frog has become diseased, rotted away, or partially decayed, as seen in Fig. 3, I interpose between the leather A and the frog another piece of rubber, D, which will fill the space and enable What of the frog is left to act. This rubber D should be secured to the upper side of the-leather plate by cement also.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. As an improved hoof-protector, a flexible plate, A, adapted to be secured to the hoof by the nails which attach the shoe in place, provided with the elastic projection 0, subtantially as described, and for the purpose set forth.

' 2. An improved hoof-protector consisting of the flexible plate A, adapted to be secured between the shoe and hoot, and provided with the upper and lower elastic projections, G and D, all substantially as and for the purposes stated.

CHARLES W. GREOE.

Witnesses i H. S. SPRAGUE, GHAs. J. HUNT. 

